Starting Out at Six Feet Under
by sonyat
Summary: It wasn't fun dying. It really wasn't fun waking up in a body that's supposed to be dead. Being a ninja in Naruto? Yeah, that's the last thing I want to do. So who the hell is Rin, and can someone get ahold of her to tell her she can have her body back? Oh, did I mention the giant demon turtle trapped inside of me? Is this the universe's idea of a bad joke? Self-Insert OC/SI OC.
1. Under My Skin

**A/N: **So I had this idea in my head and it would not get out. Sooo here's my very first attempt at writing first person pov and self-insert. Not sure how good it is but I'm on this train now and it doesn't have any breaks. I sat down and just banged it out. Juggling two stories at once, here we go!

**SPOILERIFIC! All current and future manga chapters are liable to be spoiled in this story! If you are following the anime and want no spoilers, turn back now!**

**Rated M** for language because I have a problem. :( Also violence, possibly sexuality, the whole shebang, yadda yadda ninjas.

* * *

**Starting Out at Six Feet Under**

**Under My Skin**

* * *

_I've got you under my skin_

_I've got you deep in the heart of me_

_ So deep in my heart, that you're really a part of me__  
I tried so not to give in  
And I said to myself this affair it never will go so well  
But why should I try to resist, when baby I know damn well  
That I've got you under my skin._

_Don't you know you fool, you never can win__  
Use your mentality, wake up to reality_

_I've got you under my skin_

_:-:_

_Frank Sinatra_

* * *

The story of my death is not an exciting one. There was nothing spectacular about it. Really, it was pretty much my own fault. We're going to go back a little bit for this one, to just before I died.

It all started one evening in my best friend's basement. It was raining like crazy outside, interfering with the power every now and again, causing Claire to threaten her fusebox every time it happened. We were doing the usual; she sitting in front of her flat-screen tv (hooked up to her laptop, mind you) fawning over anime characters and I was sitting behind her on a plush leather couch, scribbling doodles in my notebook, trying to ignore her ridiculous cooing.

_God I miss that couch. _

"Omigod, he is _such_ a cutie!" Claire squealed loudly, rubbing her face against the screen then kissing the still image with a wet 'smerp'. I was sure her brother could hear us upstairs over the thunder. I flushed a little at the thought. He was a little older, really cute, and an aspiring writer – something I could definitely appreciate since it was my favourite hobby.

"Oh~! My adorable, powerful, full-to-the-brim-with-liquid-sex, sexy sexy love!" she squealed again when she unpaused it and the animated object of her affection began to speak in Japanese.

"Obito, did you launch the plan without even sealing the Eight and Nine-Tails?"

I didn't need to see to recognize that voice. Damnit, I should have known the second she started with the liquid sex part. Oh yippee, we're doing the Madara thing again, slash sarcasm. I sighed and looked up to read the subtitles, trying to understand what she was carrying on about.

"Can't you drop the Uchiha wank for one night?" I asked tiredly, pushing aside my heavy dyed bangs. I really hated when she started with this. I was probably being too mean though. I decided to lighten up on her, if only for the fact we hadn't seen each other in about a week and a half.

"Well aren't you an ornery bitch," Claire commented wryly, confirming my suspicions.

"My bad," I told her with a wink, drawing a heart with Jenn plus Claire written in the middle. I flashed the sign at her.

A clarification: we're not interested in each other that way. It's just the way we roll.

"What have you been up to all this time?" Madara asked one of the other characters in the background.

She winked back at me and said, "Sorry girlfriend, my heart belongs to this stud." She pointed at him. "I haven't been up to anything bad, I swear," she answered him, nuzzling his 2D face. I heard the static as she rubbed her skin against the tv. Such a classy lady.

"You were supposed to bring me back with the Rinne Tensei."

I narrowed my eyes in disinterest. His voice was starting to get annoying; especially considering Claire kept turning up the volume _every_ single time he spoke. "Why don't you just watch it in English?"

Claire stopped molesting the television to turn around and give me a 'WTF' look liberally peppered with 'you are so stupid'. "Because it literally came out last Thursday? Also I don't watch dubs, you know this. Duh," she sassed me a little in return, her lower lip jutting out in what I guess she thought was a cute pout but it looked more like she was constipated.

I couldn't contain my grin and chuckled at her. "Sorry, you're right. I can't follow all the different series you watch. Is this the episode where Naruto beats the ever-loving shit out of Sonic the Hedgehog?" I wasn't a big anime fan, most of my information coming from Claire. Out of all the anime she subjected me to, I enjoyed Naruto the most but I certainly didn't follow it the way she did. Hell, most of the time I didn't even bother paying attention to it.

_Huge mistake number one. _

And if you haven't guessed by now, I was no Madara fan. I didn't get why Claire worshipped him so much. He's far too OP for my tastes (OP meaning overpowered for those of you that aren't staunch MMO players). I was hoping Naruto in all his fiery, glowing glory was going to whip dat ass one of these days, simply to see Claire's hilarious reaction. I suppose if I had to pick a favourite character from memory, it would be the shark-guy Kisame from the Akatsuki that Claire also so loved – not nearly as much as she loved Madara though.

In response to my question Claire gasped in horror, hands flying back to the tv screen. She stroked it like a madwoman, never breaking eye-contact with me and whispering heatedly, "Don't listen to her Madara-sama, I'll always love you, I promise. I'm here for you."

"I can't depend on any of you," said Madara on screen with a displeased expression.

Claire's face was priceless.

I cracked up laughing at the odd coincidence and her utterly forlorn cry of "Why have you forsaken me, God of the Uchiha!"

_I guess they're not bad looking for being cartoons,_ I considered, somewhat weirded-out by my own thoughts. _Good lord, I can't believe I'm thinking about this! What has that woman done to me?_

The rest of the episode continued on with the back-story of the other villain, which Claire lamented since she wanted to perv some more on the young-looking Madara, not his senior-citizen self. Like usual, I ended up not listening too closely, more entranced with my small sketches and notes on the next chapter of the novel I was writing. Yay vampires? Meh.

The night passed as it did in the same manner after anime time: we played some first-person shooters, out-screaming all the pissed off guys online then bitched about our first-world problems. In the final hours before I left, Claire let me do her skin, hair, and makeup for practice. I was grateful she let me work on her; it helped in my cosmetology courses a lot. Of course she made it out like it was a big deal because she was no girly-girl but I was pretty sure she enjoyed it.

At 11 o'clock, it was time for me to go home. The real storm was supposed to hit by 1 and I didn't want to get caught in it. I had to get up at 8AM the next day anyway so this was okay with me.

I had my last conversation with my best friend on her front porch, watching the rain pound down beyond the safety of the awning. The lightning and thunder had really picked up, giving rise to an irrational fear within me. I forced it down. I was in my twenties now, being afraid of that was so pathetic. I wanted to go home.

"See you tomorrow Clefairy," I said to her with a two-fingered salute, something I did fairly often. If I had of known this would be the last time I would see Claire…

"Are you sure you want to leave in this weather?" she asked me with a frown. I should have taken this as a sign to stay. Claire never worried, I was the worrier but today I had felt oddly calm.

_They say that's the way you feel before you die. _

"I'll be fine," I said, flipping my hood up.

_Famous last words. _

So I set out on my journey home, a whopping fifteen minutes. Sorry, there's my sarcasm again. _No problem,_ I thought even as the force of the wind threatened to knock me down. _It's only fifteen minutes. I'll be good._ Rain whipped around me as I held my coat shut tightly, shivering with cold. My clothes were soaked through almost instantly. _So maybe this wasn't my best idea. _

I started to run, wanting to get out of this insane storm as soon as possible. _The storm will really pick up at 1AM my ass weather-dick! _

And I was good until about halfway home. It was then that everything went to shit. In the most cliché of all events, lightning struck a utility pole.

I passed under it right as it struck. The transformer at the top exploded in a fantastic shower of sparks. I screamed at the noise and light and started to run faster. I don't think I even realized what had happened but some instinctive part of me knew bright lights and loud noises were bad this late at night…in a storm.

Yeah, these weren't my best moments. I can see why I died.

The wind, as powerful as it was, made full-blown running nearly impossible. Over the noise of the storm and the transformer blowing, I heard a sickening snap.

I did the stupidest thing I could have done at the time and looked up. Several cables came loose from the pole, electricity crackling dangerously from the severed ends.

This shouldn't have been a problem with the wind working against me therefore swinging the cables behind me, right?

Wrong. Fate, or God, whatever you believe in, really wanted me to die.

The wind _changed_ directions on me. When I realized what was going on, I tried to haul ass out of there. I never stood a chance. I could have gone left, right, forward, it didn't matter. Too many cables had come loose and I was nowhere near fast enough to outrun them.

In those last few moments, time slowed down. I looked behind me and watched with wide horrified eyes as one of the thick wires swung towards me. I tried to dodge to no avail.

It hit me in the chest, pain like nothing I had ever known, incredibly intense and piercing, like millions of needles skewering my body with all the skin pulled back. It felt like it went on forever, this infinite pain, when very likely it was no more than five seconds.

At blessed last, as quickly as it had come, it was gone. I let the creeping darkness take me.

* * *

**三  
**

* * *

_Did I die?_

**Ba-bump**

_That noise…_

**Ba-bump**

_Am I dead?_

**Ba-bump**

_I should be dead._ My fingers twitched.

**Ba-bump**

_Then why can I feel?_ Everything _hurt_.

**BA-BUMP**

I felt my heart clench painfully in my chest, anchoring me to reality. The disgusting metallic taste of blood filled my mouth, dripping down my throat. My skin was on fire. The smell around me was rotten and overpowering.

"Ugh," I coughed wetly, splattering it over my face. Oh my god, that _smell_… I grappled with my half-responsive hands, trying to make out some semblance of where I was. I couldn't feel the rain anymore. Had I lain unconscious for so long? My hands told me I was laying inside a few inches of some kind of viscous liquid. It was sticky. What the?

Suddenly, the stench became too much for me and I shot upwards much to my body's protest to vomit violently. Each heave made it feel like my heart was going to burst from my chest, Xenomorph style. It hurt so much, so deeply in my chest.

"God," I croaked between heaves. My voice was hoarse and entirely unrecognizable. At least the blood taste would come out. "What have I done—" Blood and bile interrupted my plea for help to someone I didn't believe existed. "—have I done to…deserve…this." My stomach gave a final pain-filled squeeze. It nearly knocked me back out.

"Fuck," I swore, leaning on my forearms in the thick putrid fluid to spit the remaining bile out of my mouth. I felt the ends of my hair – the few strands that were still clean – dip into it, coming away heavy and clumped together.

Wait. What? My hair isn't that long. I'm practically bald, I only have bangs!

Don't I?

I opened my eyes, finding it hard to focus. Everything was red. _I'm having some kind of stroke, aren't I? _I thought, dismayed. I got to live through being viciously electrocuted and now _this_? I must have been some kind of terrible serial killer in a past life.

The world began to clear and I realized with a start, that yes, everything was indeed red. It was all red because I was kneeling ankle-deep in a gigantic pool of _blood_. I tried to scream but my throat was too injured. It came out as more of a high-pitched hiss.

"Oh my god, oh my god," I panicked, each word producing the feeling of razors slashing the inside of my esophagus.

There were twisted, malformed trees everywhere, all decorated with decimated bodies, oozing blood. That explained what seemed like the Olympic-sized swimming pool of blood around me but _why_? I almost started laughing, the scene so insane and nauseating that it didn't seem real. My stomach churned. I fought back the urge to start throwing up again.

Jesus Christ, what was going on here? Was this hell? Had I died and gone to hell?

_You made Kakashi kill you. _Something niggled at the back of my mind. What was that? I shook my head dazedly, trying to clear it. I couldn't keep looking at all this death, it was going to drive me crazy.

I mushed earth in my palms as I made fists under the blood-lake, staring blankly out into the distance. It felt real. My fingernails bit into the skin of my palms. I could feel pain. I could feel sick. This wasn't hell, the afterlife, whatever. I refused to believe it.

This had to be _real_.

My hair clung to my chin and neck, wet and stinking. In some inane attempt to forget the inexplicable experience I was going through, my blood-soaked hands went to it. I grabbed great chunks of it, running my hands through its length. I pulled hard.

"Ow!" I hissed, not at all expecting it to have hurt because there was no way this hair wasn't a wig. How did I grow fourteen inches of hair in the span of two to twelve hours? It wasn't just that; my body felt lighter, like I'd lost a ton of weight, like things were missing—_OhmygodIhavenotits!_

I gaped at my chest, hands hovering in front of where I'd once had moderately-sized boobs, nothing large but still decent! Was this some kind of reverse puberty?!

I soon noticed that I had a bigger problem than my lack of breasts. A huge hole was ripped into my shirt right where my heart sat. The goods were pretty much on display, except they weren't at all the goods I remembered. A terrible pink-red scar, raised and bumpy, marred the skin of more than half of my left breast. I touched it gingerly, wincing when the slightest contact made it burn, sending a shooting pain directly into my heart. For a second I couldn't breathe, only exhale and give a shaky cough, until the palpitations passed.

When did this happen to me? This injury looked nothing like an electrical burn or a melt-you-down-to-your-bones-because-you-ran-into-a-lightning-strike burn.

_Use the __Shōsen jutsu to heal yourself. You have enough chakra now._

"What's happening to me?" I whispered to myself, the bizarre itch in my brain feeling returning for a brief moment. "Where am I?" This was certainly not my neighbourhood or Claire's. It wasn't even civilization. There were no landmarks, save for what I was currently in, a break in the middle of a forest. The moon was high in the sky, so it was still night but had it been full? That did _not_ seem right. I couldn't remember. The one damn time I'm not paying attention to the moon…

_You're in the Land of Fire._ Again that strange feeling, like something wriggling deep inside my head, attempting to get out. I ignored it in favour of more pressing matters.

I ripped the top half of my shirt off, using the extra fabric in the sleeves to fashion a make-shift tubetop to cover the girls and my new awful scar. _These aren't my clothes,_ I realized with dawning horror. Cold chills ran through me. _I need to get out of here, I need to get out of here now!_ Some deep primal part of me was telling me to run (yeah because the blood pool and demented forestry weren't enough to inspire that in the first place, go figure).

_Chakra signatures, people are coming._ Gritting my teeth, I clutched my head. This was already getting old. What was it? Some repressed memory trying to surface? It didn't matter, I needed to leave.

I took hold of the blood slick tree next to me, using it to rise. It took all of my strength to pull myself to my feet. I swear I was sweating by the time I managed to stand on badly shaking legs – legs that were too thin to be mine. _Get out of this screwed up mess first then freak out._ Okay so there were still some working brain-cells left in my head, good to know.

I started to walk slowly, small steps to make sure I wouldn't go careening headfirst back into the decidedly Doom-y landscape. Ten steps in I realized I could go faster, so I did. My walk turned into a jog then into a sprint, and soon I was flying at a speed I'd never known to possess through the forest in a direction that made me feel safe. My newfound ability made me laugh out loud, part in delight, part in disbelief. It was amazing! Where had this come from? The weakness didn't leave my body but it lifted a little, an invigorating energy coursing through my muscles, filling them with some unknown power.

I couldn't exactly explain the 'direction that made me feel safe' part, how I knew that this was a safe way to go but the farther Northwest I went, the better I felt.

_It's because you're going to Konoha._

"Shut up," I snarled and was immediately not sure why I'd done it. My confident pace faltered and I tripped over a root, sending me hurtling forward. Apparently I hadn't understood just how fast I was going. I sailed through the air and tried to curl in on myself; if I hit the ground chest first like I was expecting to… Well I didn't want to think about what could happen.

Instead I landed on my side, the force of the impact enough to drive the air from my lungs, and skidded for a few feet before rolling a couple times to a stop. I wheezed and clutched at my burning wound, the jolts of stabbing pain striking spasms through my chest and down my legs. They kicked out like I was having some kind of reflex test done. To any bystander it probably looked like I was having a seizure. Oh man.

_I definitely shouldn't have tried to run,_ I told myself with a grimace. I couldn't have been doing it for more than seven to ten minutes, still way more than I ever used to be able to do. Was I far enough from danger, from that shitty hellscape?

The sound of running water came to my ears. _Nah, that ain't no sink girl, you're in the middle of a forest! _With a shaky hand, I wiped the rather gross amount of sweat from my forehead and rolled over to face what had to be a river. I sighed in relief when I was right. Maybe I could wash off some of the crusty blood now. God, I probably looked like a walking corpse. _Well, if the apocalypse ever did come, I always wanted it to be the zombie kind. I'll fit right in!_

"Ouch!" I exclaimed as I tried to get up. Oh come on, this really isn't funny! Now I have to deal with a twisted ankle on top of all this other bullshit?

_No. Use the __Shōsen jutsu._

"What the balls ever," I said with an eyeroll. I hated when people told me what to do. Before I knew what I was doing, my hands flew through making some kind of hand-signs and were above me ankle, glowing green. It began to feel better as I concentrated with my chakra, pleased with how good my control was. I'd always been naturally skilled with it but all my hard work refining it was really paying off. After all, check out what a great med-nin I've become, at my age too! I smiled proudly to myself.

I checked my ankle over when I was finished, feeling over the bones and testing the ligaments. _Nicely done indeed._ Fully healed!

_Uh…fully healed? How did I just heal myself?_

Er, wait go back. Something's not right. I made the hand-signs again from some memory I didn't know I had and concentrated. That powerful feeling returned, a little similar to what I did to my muscles in the forest but not really? My hands pulsed with soft green light once more.

The goofy smile vanished from my face as my brain caught up to my racing thoughts. I frowned, eyes bulging out of their sockets as I looked at it, well and truly looked at it.

I'm sorry, full stop: GLOWING GREEN?! CHAKRA!?

"Oh my god!" I yelled for the umpteenth time—instantly regretting it for the way it shredded my throat. I really do call upon an entity I don't believe in quite a bit. Another weird habit.

_Be quiet, the enemy could hear you._

"Dude, screw your 'be quiet' jazz! I'm fucking glowing!" I ranted hysterically, watching as the glow sputtered out and died due to my lack of focus. "Chakra?! Like chakra in Naruto? Like the chakra the blondie with big tits uses? Tsunana? Tsu-something? Whatever! Holy shit, holy shit!"

I scooted to the edge of the river and looked in, unable to ignore the signs any longer.

The face gawking back at me was not mine even though she mimicked everything I did.

She looked at least nine or ten years younger than me, maybe fourteen years old if my guess was correct—

—_Yes, you're fourteen—_

—with brown hair stopping a few inches under her chin, brown eyes, and one thick purple marking on each cheek. I stretched my cheeks, watching them move with the skin. So they weren't paint and didn't really look like tattoos—I had a lot before this. I recalled Naruto characters often had these from birth.

Wow, I am really considering that I'm now a Naruto character. Great. It did make a modicum of sense though; I could do crazy feats with my body—I didn't really think it was my body—that I would never have dreamed possible before, I had chakra, I had jutsu, and knew how to use both like it was second nature. Most importantly, I had a headband.

_Hitai-ate._

The headband I wore told me what I needed to know, that I was from Konoha, the hidden village the show focused most on. It also told me I was a ninja that murdered people.

_Not happening,_ I thought and ripped the headband off, throwing it into the river. If I had to play this weird game, this weird life, hopefully until I woke up or some higher power took pity on me and ended this Sims game, I wasn't going to do it as a ninja.

_You're a proud kunoichi from Konoha. You wanted to die for Konoha._

I would never go to Konoha or any other ninja village. I was going to ride this out as a normal person even if I had to hide my new cool powers.

The purple marks on my face needed to be covered up. Despite the fact that they made me, er whoever I was supposed to be, look way less boring, they were pretty distinctive and someone looking for me would instantly know who I was. Unless tons of people had these giant things on their faces, which I highly doubted since I didn't remember seeing anyone with them on the show.

No, there was that one girl from the last episode I'd watched with Claire. I remembered looking up because of the obscenely bright light (yes I'm a moth) and seeing her get killed with a lightning-filled hand…through her…chest…

I looked down at my covered injury. I thought of the electricity-filled cable hitting my chest.

I came to one conclusion.

"Son of a bitch."

* * *

**三**

* * *

"What happened here?" an awed Konoha jōnin muttered, staring at the extremely odd carnage. "Aren't we the reinforcements? Doesn't look like they needed us."

"These are all Kiri-nin," one of his squad-mates said, checking over the mangled bodies.

"That's to be expected," another said.

"We have a live one over here! It's Hatake Kakashi!"

"Where's his partner?"

Much later, when Kakashi recovered and after he relayed the grief-filled tale, he asked what had happened to Rin's body.

In return, they asked him what had happened to Rin's body. As far as everyone knew, all the Kirigakure shinobi had been killed, not a single one left alive to take it back with them.

Did the ones who'd utterly obliterated the Kiri forces take it?

When Kakashi told them he didn't know and the retrieval team told Kakashi they didn't know one question was left in everyone's minds.

Where on earth had Nohara Rin's body gone?

* * *

**三**

* * *

"You showed him mercy because he was a comrade?" Madara asked, unimpressed.

"No… It was fine either way. Whether he lives or dies—"

"She got up and walked away," the original White Zetsu suddenly said in confusion, interrupting him.

"Insolent creature, now is not the time," Madara berated him with a stern look.

"Rin got up and walked away," Zetsu repeated, looking as confused as he sounded, eye falling on Obito.

The look Obito pinned on him was absolutely murderous. His hands clenched into shaking fists. "What part of that do you think is funny?"

"Wow, that's messed up," Spiral Zetsu exclaimed from around Obito. "She seriously got up and walked away like some kind of zombie!"

"I felt her pulse, she was dead," Obito told them with a snarl, single Sharingan morphing back into its Mangekyō state.

Madara saw that this was going to a bad place. The boy was about to agree to his plans and the Zetsus were on track to ruin it. "Enough, both of you. Begone."

Almost unwillingly, Spiral Zetsu uncurled himself from Obito, steadying him as he reformed to make sure he didn't fall over, after all the right half of his body was unstable for the time being. Obito didn't stop glaring at him even as the clone offered its help.

White Zetsu and Spiral Zetsu slunk out of the main cavern.

"Your clones saw it right? I don't have faulty wiring?" Spiral Zetsu asked when they were out of earshot.

"Yes," White Zetsu confirmed. "She got up, went a little crazy, and ran away," he said in disbelief.

Spiral Zetsu thought about it for a second with a hum.

"Do humans with large holes in their chests usually walk away from that like nothing happened?"

* * *

**A/N: **And now you know the timeline! She was "dead" long enough for Obito to have left her there but not enough for the Konoha forces to find her. I always wondered what happened to Rin's body. Did Obito take it with him and bury her? Did he leave it and then Konoha reinforcements took it back with them? I don't think it's ever said anywhere. My original idea was for her to already have been buried then wake up but I figured that would be waaaay more traumatizing. It would have opened up a lot more routes for humor though; I might have to write an omake or one-shot with that. :'D

I know that it seems like she's taking it well at the moment but trust me, she's very far from accepting it. Wait til the next chapter, insert evil laughter here.

For anyone wondering, Jenn!Rin isn't schizophrenic, it's not the "real Rin" speaking to her, and it's not her conscience. So who is it? :l

Reviews seriously make my day.


	2. Prisons without Walls

**A/N:** Okay first off, THANK YOU READERS SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT YOU'VE GIVEN MY FIC! The reviews, favs, and follows are all great encouragement to continue on and I thank each and every one of you for giving my story a chance!

**Warning**, if you read my AN at the end of chapter one you'll know I said Rin/Jenn is very far from accepting her situation. Without spoiling anything, I'll say there's humor in this BUT…well, you'll see. Also if you can handle Rin's level of sarcasm this chapter, then you'll be able to handle her throughout the rest of the story (and yes she gets character growth and improvement).

* * *

**Starting Out at Six Feet Under**

**Prisons without Walls**

* * *

If I'm correct about what's happening to me at the moment, I'm essentially an aspiring makeup artist and hobbyist writer trying to make it in the Narutoverse that I stupidly did not pay as much attention to as I should have. This is going to end well.

Not.

* * *

"Time's almost up," Spiral Zetsu said, watching the still forms of Madara and Obito from a distance. They stood with their eyes locked together in a trance-like state, deep inside the elder's genjutsu.

"Yeah," White Zetsu replied, conflicted, "Madara chose him though. If Obito thinks Rin is alive, he might abandon Madara's plan. We can't have that."

"But Obito is our friend and he loves her," Spiral Zetsu sighed.

"He doesn't believe us though."

"I don't think I would believe us. What kind of human recovers from that kind of thing?"

"Apparently her," White Zetsu shrugged, stroking his chin in contemplation. He thought back to what little jargon his clones had heard from the Kiri-nin; Kirigakure testing something, needing to experiment with human bodies. Could whatever Kiri had done to that girl potentially saved her?

"We should find out what they did. It's certainly interesting, a human that can recover so flawlessly from a fatal wound," Spiral Zetsu said. Speech between the clones was unnecessary due to their telepathy but they enjoyed it all the same and in time, would gain appropriate nicknames from it.

White Zetsu hummed in agreement. His thoughts were elsewhere however. What if Rin were to agree to the plan? Hadn't she seen enough death, going so far as to offer her own life? Wouldn't she want to see a perfect world too? Why couldn't Obito and Rin see that together?

Spiral Zetsu tilted his head curiously at the thought. Slowly, a growing amusement filtered through their link. A person like that was useful. Their plan had merit and it would be entertaining. Humans really were so entertaining.

"Has she gone past the perimeter yet?"

"Nearly," White Zetsu reached out through his network of clones. "Eh, but chakra like hers isn't hard to track down again. Not that that would even be a problem for us."

"True, but I'll go anyway."

"If Madara-sama questions your absence we'll be caught…"

"Not at all," Spiral Zetsu began to sink into the ground. "Obito is still mad at us. Madara won't ask me to return yet, and by then I'll already be back."

Would they keep this a secret from Madara?

_Yes._

After all, it wasn't like it was something bad, right? And if it became detrimental to Tsuki no Me, well, that could be dealt with easily too.

The Zetsus would keep it their secret.

_For now._

* * *

**三**

* * *

"Son of a bitch," I repeated again breathlessly, staring intently at my/her—

_Your's. Nohara Rin's. You. Rin._

—reflection, at the face that simultaneously was and wasn't mine. Tentatively, I reached out to touch it, needing some sort of confirmation that this was really me. Her hand followed the path mine made, shaking as it came ever closer. She wore my expression of numb shock that was quickly diffusing into a glassy-eyed fear.

Where was the grown woman with a sickly face, grey eyes, and a shaved head fronted by a bright purple plumage of bangs? I'd always needed glasses and yet here I could see clearer than I'd ever been able.

I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised when my hand broke the water's surface, shattering the mirror image. I flinched at the sensation of the cold water. Though the ripples made it hazy, the reflection of a dark-haired, dark-eyed girl with purple rectangles on her cheeks remained.

I made a noise of surprise. To describe the moment as sobering would have been an understatement. Despite that, I couldn't help but think of the "Who I Am Inside" lyrics from Mulan. I suppose I truly am "special".

While all ques pointed to this person really being me and this body mine, good ol' stubborn me just wasn't going to accept it so easily, so I started thinking (strictly) hypothetically. Say I really am a Naruto character now—which particular one I still have no idea—what do I do from here? Where do I go? I just chucked my headband—

_Hitai-ate._

—into the river and declared that I wasn't going to play ninja, which I most certainly intended to stick by. Espionage, seduction, and murder? No thank you, give me back my boring life please. Well, I don't want to be dead either so axe that last part unless I'm actually in a coma headed towards a remarkable recovery (yeah I know it's too much to ask for).

Absentmindedly, I cupped water in my hands and began splashing it over my face and neck, scraping at the dry blood there. The sensation did nothing to alleviate my feelings that there might be an off-chance that this could be a dream.

What exactly did I know about Naruto, beyond the basics of the show and the main characters? All of the main characters are probably in Konoha (still not going~!) so that's out. After them, all I know are the Akatsuki and Madara.

…

Please excuse me while I go laugh my ass off over how well _that_ would turn out. Have the Akatsuki even formed yet? Is the real Uchiha Madara still an old man or is he dead or Edo Tensei'd? I need some help here. I doubted any of these people would help me, besides they were still all shinobi, still all people I don't want to associate with if I'm shooting for normal.

What civilians do I know? …The Ichiraku Ramen father and daughter duo? Goddamnit, did Konoha really have to be central to _everything_?

_Kakashi would help you. Konohagakure __**would**__ help you._

"Hell no!" I declared and shoved my head under the water on a whim. Although I didn't have any shampoo I was sure with enough force I could dislodge the disgusting caked-on blood. I clawed and tugged at it like my life depended on it.

I had to think harder. Surely there was an answer among the plethora of random trivia I knew about Naruto.

Any information fresh in my mind would be from the newer episodes I'd starting watching weekly with Claire and those all had to do with the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Shit, where am I in the timeline? Was this Pre-Time Skip or Shippuden? If this is actually happening to me, I am so _so_ screwed right now! How am I supposed to live through this when I don't know WHEN and WHERE I am?

_The Third Shinobi World War has only just ended._

I raised my dishevelled head from the river with a sharp intake of air. Elegance: I radiate it. A good amount of the muck stuck to my head felt like it was gone.

In all the fanfiction I'd proofread for Claire, her characters usually headed straight for Konoha or wherever their favourite boytoy happened to be stationed and got answers. I didn't want to go to Konoha for reasons previously stated and had no favourite character, male or female, to follow around.

Hmm, I guess I'm a bit of a liar since I did disclose Kisame as one but wasn't the village he came from hailed as the Bloody Mist? Holy shit, no thank you (but thank you Claire for drilling some facts about the series into me)! And I can only imagine he'd be scary as all hell in person. That and he's potentially in Akatsuki at the moment.

Our meeting would probably go as such: Hey yeah, I'm from another world where you're a cartoon and I kinda know the future but not really because I'm the noob that didn't pay attention, wanna be BFFs? I can be the token helpless female that follows you around and maybe we'll fall in love and live happily ever after? Insert corny sword and penis joke here. Oh, you're not cool with that? Okay I'll just leave—whoops I'm dead.

Sounds fun right? Yeah no, not for me either. I don't think I'd have the metaphorical balls to go through with the dick joke which takes most of the fun out of that. If I'm going to do everything in my power to avoid being noticed, then the following someone around idea isn't a good one at all.

But really, how insane am I for considering that I'm now a Naruto character? Who am I supposed to be anyway? _With my luck, I bet I'm some sort of minor character,_ I thought wryly. Ha, I'd be okay with being a minor character though. Is she significant to the plot? Am _I_ the important one now? Lordy I really hope not. I'm not good at being important. Probably not with what little screen-time she got. _She did appear in that last episode though. Urgh, why wasn't I paying attention again? Who is she? _

_You are Nohara Rin, chūnin of Konohagakure._

Shoving the wholly sarcastic and totally useless thoughts aside, I put my attention back where it belonged: on anything that would help me get out of this mess. And speaking of messes, I certainly looked like one.

My skin itched like hell. I needed to wash off the gunk that covered me.

_So you will listen? The scent of blood is strong, distinct. The way you are now, anyone would have no issues tracking you._

With a shiver, I realized not because it was uncomfortable or gross. I needed to wash it off before someone picked up the scent and tracked me down. This was another thing I somehow just _knew_ and I was going to follow my gut on it for now; after all it hadn't steered me wrong quite yet. So far it was unpleasant being a ninja.

(Note to self: get out of being a ninja.)

_Unlikely, this is a necessary part of achieving your goal. Will you give up after you've come this far?_

While the air was warm and humid (thankfully; I had no illusions that if it had of been any cooler I'd be dead) the river wasn't warm. It was in no way a good idea to just go jumping straight in case the current was stronger deeper in. I would need to be a little creative here. The front part of my skirt was the only part of my outfit that wasn't drenched in now dry blood and viscera so I tore it off entirely and dunked it in the river.

After several minutes of furiously scrubbing my skin raw I realized this was about as good as it was going to get. While I was no longer completely crusty with dry blood, I looked far from normal. I still appeared like I'd just walked out of a warzone—in all likelihood I did. A quick look down at my reflection told me my hair remained filthy though. Even through the vigorous wash, some parts were still matted with blood.

_I'm in Naruto. I'm a Naruto character. I'm in Naruto._ These words ran through my mind almost non-stop as I continued to try to figure out what to do next. No matter how I swung it, it made absolutely _no sense_. How does one just become someone else entirely, let alone an anime character? How was I so sure this wasn't some kind of coma-dream? I was all but struck by lightning. Maybe I was really alive in "my world" and all of this was a product of my increasingly insane imagination.

Since I'd already determined I wasn't dead therefore this wasn't any form of the afterlife, I needed to figure out what's going on here. I mean, I didn't die right (though I was sure thousands of volts of electricity surging through my heart should have killed me)? I feel like I would definitely know if I did.

_Yes and no._

Sure, I've just been through an entirely traumatic experience but to consider myself in another world, in another body? _Come __**on**__._ If I really died, this wasn't how reincarnation worked. You don't suddenly get dropped off into an already living body, interrupting somebody's life experience.

_But you haven't, not really._

"No, I'm pretty sure I have," I said, annoyed, while closing my eyes and rubbing my temples. It felt like something inside wanted out badly, clawing and tearing inside of my head.

My voice remained rough and choked, any words I spoke bringing pain. Why was I talking anyway? Was it perhaps an attempt to keep myself from going completely off the deep end? That I kept talking to myself spoke volumes about how well the tactic was working.

Grimacing, I stroked my throat and wondered if I could heal it the same way I had my ankle. I seemed to be trained heavily as a—a medic-nin after all. It was hard to believe I was seriously thinking that's what I was. Then again, I've been convincing myself out of meeting canon characters anyway.

_You never want to see your family or friends ever again?_

Ignoring what I could only describe as lumpy noises in my brain, my eyes caught my reflection as I went to make the seals for my healing technique. I paused. It was hard not to gape at it as I had been doing for god knows how long now. I couldn't tear my eyes away from it every time they glanced across the shimmering water.

One hand hovered over my chest, where according to my memory I should have had a fist-sized round hole. How was _she_ alive? How was _I_ alive?

**I would very much like an answer to that too. N-not that I'm complaining though!**

My whole body froze at the words right next to my ear, and then whipped around wildly, on my feet in a nanosecond. Without thinking my hand darted to the holster strapped to my thigh, whipping out a knife—

_Kunai._

—a-a _kunai_, that I twirled between my fingers to position it correctly. I wonder what disturbed me more, that I could wield a deadly weapon with such ease or the voice echoing around me.

They had said it right _in_ _my ear_ and now they were gone?! Could anyone move that fast? It simply wasn't possible!

_How many times have you seen Minato-sensei do it? This is nothing new._

"Who's there?" I called, instantly regretting how utterly stupid it was of me to do so. Who asks the bad guys if they're out there waiting to pounce? _Me._ Derp. Sigh.

I stood there with my weapon ready in a fighting stance, ready to lash out at anyone that came my way. My breathing remained harsh and ragged, chest heaving and throat burning.

_Too loud. Calm down._

The hand clenching my knife—kunai shook. Yeah, I sure looked real threatening. The light of the moon sitting so brightly in the sky made the killer point of the kunai glint dangerously. Frankly the small kunai looked more imposing than I did.

_Holding it too tightly, you'll overthrow your balance when you thrust and when you throw it will have minimal accuracy._

But nothing happened. No badass enemy shinobi burst out of the trees at me, or demons, or that little girl out of The Ring, or any other wacky things I could think of. The night remained as silent as it had been, the only sound the rushing of water beside me. That feeling deep in my core that had made me instinctively want to run before wasn't there. Unexplainably, there was no one around that could have said that to me, least of all right in my ear.

_There are no chakra signatures. They're gone. Are you listening? Listentome listentome, LISTENTOME! Why won't you listen to me?_

What was that? What in the ever-loving hell was that?! Somebody had said, crystal clear and stern and angry, that they wanted to know how I was alive as well! And that they weren't complaining about it? That part said like a child not wanting to be reprimanded. It actually confused me enough to break through my panic. I mean, what? I wasn't complaining either. Not yet at least.

I feel like I might begin, now that there was a bodiless voice surrounding me. So I'm apparently a Naruto character, schizophrenic and/or being haunted? Maybe both? Is it okay to prefer death to this weird reincarnation now?

I'm not ashamed to admit I sat down and tried not to cry. I have no clue what's happening to me. It was funny at first, the thought that I might be in an anime, but it's becoming too real. I want to go home. This is all _wrong_.

"Rin, get it together, what are you even thinking?" I slapped my cheeks twice, dragging my fingers down them. The shape of my eyes warped comically as I tugged on the skin there.

**Getting caught in this, you're pathetic,** the same voice I'd heard moments before told me, sounding loathing and self-loathing, furious and afraid all at once. It was distinctly male, on the younger side. His tone had changed completely. **Let me **_**out**_**. **

It wasn't in my ear. It was in my _head_.

**Yours is the lesser will. You will free me.**

_…No._

_No, cut that shit out Rin. You're losing it!_

**Let me out, pitiful vessel.** The amount of rage in those five small words was mind-boggling. His words drummed across my consciousness, growing louder and louder as they reverberated against the inside of my skull, a cacophony of malevolence and hatred.

**Does a little girl presume to cage **_**ME**_**?**

The more the voice spoke, the more idiotic it became to me. Giggles started to burble up from my ruined throat, high-pitched and bordering on manic. My life as I knew it was over. This was insanity at its finest; a voice in my head, fighting against me.

I don't want to do this anymore.

"Okay, okay, joke's over!" I said to the forest, trying to suppress some of the crazed laughter escaping my mouth. My whole body shook with the effort. "This is Punk'd right? Is this the part where Ashton Kutcher and the camera crew pop up and tell me I'm a dumbass?"

As if to mock me, the chirping of crickets answered.

"What? Nothing?" I called shrilly, gesturing with open arms for some kind of sign and then I realized something. I shook now for a different reason. Did I just…did I just call myself Rin? Who's Rin? The distorted image of what I thought was now me flickered madly against the river's current. Is this Rin? Am I supposed to be Rin?

_Yes, finally._

The intense pressure behind my eyebrows lifted a little and for whatever reason, this revelation seemed to both soothe and enrage me.

"I-I'm Rin?" I said aloud, stunned. It sounded so _wrong_ (but I'm lying to myself).

_It's right._

"No, I'm Jenn," I said more firmly, voice remaining shaky. "I'm not…_Rin_." _Rin, Nohara Rin is __**my**__ name_, I suddenly realized with horrifying clarity. This was worse than the asshole in my head. "I'm _Jenn_," I grit out through clenched teeth, louder.

**RIN,** he spat out the name as if it was the most revolting thing he'd ever said.

I snapped.

"I. AM NOT. RIN!" I screamed, slamming a glowing red fist into the ground. It shattered under the force of the blow and I recoiled. What else could I do but stare at it? Stare at it the same way I'd stared at myself? None of this was _me_.

Jenn wasn't fourteen years old and capable of wild feats, like healing with a touch and enhancing her muscles to the point where it appeared she was almost flying. Jenn didn't wake up in pools of blood surrounded by trees out of a Giger-ific nightmare or with memories that weren't hers. Jenn didn't hear voices in her head. Jenn couldn't BREAK solid rock with her BARE FUCKING HANDS!

I did a double-take before confusedly tacking on _and I shouldn't glow red?_ Oh shit, why was I glowing red?

A sudden and deep pain in my gut interrupted my pity party (likely the first of many to come). I coughed and gagged, lurching forward. I grasped at my stomach, trying to will away the burning roiling under the skin there. A small scream forced itself past my lips as I rolled on the ground in agony, trying to string enough coherent thoughts together to figure out what was happening to me now.

**I warned you!**

"No more," I gasped, scratching at my belly, "I don't…want…to die…AGAIN!" I shot upwards in a howl, nails ripping through the stiff fabric of my shirt. I felt hot liquid stain my fingertips and smear across my palms and belly. It only made the burn that much more intense across my abdomen. Had I scratched so hard that I'd made myself bleed?

**I NEVER WANTED TO BE SEALED! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I WON'T LET YOU KILL ME!**

I looked down to see black and red. My hands dripped black fluid, its smell reminding me distantly of ink. The red. Oh god, the red…! It boiled up from my belly, bubbling and foul. Could this horrible thing possibly be chakra? It crept along my body, up my chest, and oozing in small amounts from my arms and left hand. My right was completely encased in it. I could feel it burst from my back in a spectacular wave of fiery pain. Errant tears leaked from the corners of my eyes as I struggled to tamp down whatever this was—

In another striking moment of clarity, through my skin burning and peeling away under the full moon, I understood what was happening. I remembered the Pein Invasion arc. I remembered Naruto and his jinchūriki forms. A spiky phantom tail, blazing red and translucent, swept out from under me and I began to scream without restraint.

I was going to die within the first hour of my new life.

* * *

**A/N: **That escalated quickly, no? There will never be an author's note longer than this one. Read if you're interested.

I apologize for this being a shorter chapter. I like to aim for 4-6k but I've been writing and re-writing this so many times I just needed to get it out there and keep working on the next chapters which I hope will come to me with more ease than this one did. If I'd attempted to fit everything I had planned for this chapter here it would easily be 12k words and disjointed as anything.

The question I'm sure is on everyone's minds: Why is Rin still a jinchūriki?

While the reasons canon to this storyverse will be explained in the coming chapters (and you're free to guess; at least one reason is very obvious to me), mine as the author is Rin without would not have enough conflict or room for character growth. She has stated over and over that she doesn't want to be a shinobi and wants to at all costs not be involved in that life. Since she'd be fairly civilian without the Sanbi thus able to get away with it, she would never encounter the other characters or change Narutoverse canon at all. As a jinchūriki, she has little choice but to do both. No, she's not going to be given amazing powers or off the bat be best friends with her bijū, whom I hope to characterize well. Isobu isn't going to be a straight up dick like Kurama but he's also not going to be a douchebag for no reason. He's got a hell of a lot of reasons right now.

My reasoning on the Zetsus: I saw them as Obito's genuine friends up until he started deviating from Madara's plans.

I hope I managed to convey her descent into near insanity without making it really confusing.

And that's my little spiel. I apologize if Rin remaining a jinchūriki ruins the premise of this story for you. As always, reviews make my day (No really, they probably make me way more happy than they should)!


	3. Of Control

**A/N: **Here we are again, with a longer chapter this time! Once more, I'd like to thank you for all the encouragement and support! I love that people out there are reading my little story and enjoying it!

I'm not terribly good at keeping my promises when I add 'next chapter' at the bottom of an author's note so I removed the previous one since things go down differently here. I do apologize if this is a slower start, it will pick up in action soon! I don't have a beta so I apologize if there are any errors; I try to proofread to the best of my abilities but sometimes everything just runs together.

I imagine the Third Mizukage as a cross between Kisame and Fire Lord Ozai (thanks Petrichor in May, haha!). A real thank you to Petrichor in May for letting me bounce ideas off her for this fic!

**Warning: **This chapter isn't very humorous. I'm wondering if I should change the adventure tag to drama? Like damn son.

* * *

**Starting Out at Six Feet Under**

**Of Control**

* * *

"_I will not live much longer…"_

_Why did you have to die? Why did you leave me in this hell?_

Alone in his dark prison with chakra compressed so densely it actually altered his size, chained and near helpless, the Sanbi despaired. The stone dome encapsulating him occasionally pulsed with faint blue light, cutting through the dense black at random intervals when his struggles became too powerful for the seals upon seals to ignore.

The chakra-reinforced chains rattled and groaned as the would-be leviathan thrashed against them, tempestuous waves battering the weathered rock and splashing over into the smaller portion of the circular chamber. A worn, blood and ink-stained slab with manacles adorning its four corners sat at the center, the place where they would seal him once again.

Into a prison worse than the one that held him now.

Water and foam rained down on him when he gave a spectacularly violent heave. Debris clattered down from the ceiling, bouncing off of him. A crack splintered the wall subsequently destroying a layer of fūinjutsu. A set of chains went slack and his tails wreaked spiteful havoc, slamming against the dome, pushing the seals binding him to their very limits. It _hurt_, hurt like lightning and Kurama-nii's furious chakra every time a part of him touched them but he didn't _care_. _Break, damn you, break! LET ME OUT!_

The dome shuddered, the water boiled. The Sanbi imagined the outside.

_Soon, soon._

Did they think the water would soothe him? It depressed him, made his insides ache nearly enough to curl into his shell and try to forget the world. It reminded him of the ocean he would never see again. They would come soon. It was nearly time, he felt deep in the soul they didn't believe he possessed. They always came.

"…_Isobu…"_

He remembered the way Father had said his name so clearly. He treasured it dearly and guarded it like the well-kept secret it was. It had been his only comfort in the long years the disgusting humans had confined him, the thoughts of Father; his warmth and his smile. Father would never have used him in such a way, treated him like a rabid animal, a _weapon_ kept sheathed until bloody war came calling again.

"_Even if you are far apart, you will always be together."_

That was a lie though! All of his siblings had abandoned each other, even fought to test their strength! It was wrong! Father never meant for this!

Isobu pulled harder, spiked tails lashing out over and over, causing irreparable damage. The chains were pulled as taut as they could go, the dome fiercely bright, as brilliant as the sun reflecting off the ocean – so bright he had to shut his one good eye – as all the seals activated at once in an attempt to keep him from freedom.

He used all of his willpower. _A little more, just a little more…!_

A noise; a piercing screech that skewered straight through his consciousness, obliterating his concentration, then: heaviness, pain. Isobu was smaller again. The chains tightened, the seals faded, the light following them leaving him in unending blackness.

Another failure. He roared in pure fury, the sound unlike anything meant to be heard by human ears. The tail-end of his scream gave way to frustrated sobs as he quailed in the darkness. Did they mean to frighten him with it, he dimly wondered. It wouldn't work. The darkness was reminiscent of the deepest trenches of the ocean, so deep and so dark lit only by bioluminescent creatures that humans had no names for yet. No human or any of his brother or sisters could have braved it. Isobu missed it so much.

Why had he come to the surface again?

(_Loneliness._)

"_There will come a time when you will be united again, each of you with a unique name and a different form than before."_

Isobu didn't want a different name or a different form. These were his last remnants of Father. Would they ever be together again? He doubted they would. Had Father lied? The mere concept of it broke his heart.

A small door opposite of him burst open, a sliver of torchlight with it. "Mizukage-sama!" a breathless human exclaimed, "we can't afford to wait any longer! The seals are at their limits; it's only a matter of time before the Sanbi breaks free!"

So he had been close. The way Isobu was strung up now rendered it impossible for him to retreat into his shell. His three tails remained wrapped in chains, tighter than before, restricting any movement. It shamed him that he couldn't bring them forward to wrap around his face, however much his jaw and crown hid it.

He didn't want them to see his tears.

"I understand, begin the preparations," the Sandaime Mizukage ordered imperiously, leading his elite ANBU and fūinjutsu specialists into the cave, blue hair and lengthy robes flowing behind him. He studied the Sanbi with calculating eyes and smiled, all malice and sharp, pointed teeth. "I sincerely hope you enjoy your play-time. You've been so rowdy lately."

Ah, that's right, humans don't believe it. Bijū, chakra monsters, don't cry.

A masked-man entered with an unconscious female slung over his shoulder, flanked by a set of elderly men. The rest of the Kiri-ANBU followed. All carrying torches, they formed a circle around the stone slab. The man laid her down none too gently on the slab and bound her wrists and ankles for good measure. Her clothes were opened and thrown carelessly aside, the underside of her small breasts to her pubic bone bared.

She almost looked a sacrifice, thought Isobu. Pity he knew she wasn't. So this was to be his container, this little human, this tiny scrap of a girl? She didn't wear the symbol of his hated Kirigakure. Who was this kunoichi then? What was the purpose of this jailer? Surely they didn't mean to give away what they considered to be their most powerful weapon…?

The seal masters came forward brandishing brushes and ink and began their meticulous work, first drawing the perimeter of the seal around the stone then up it, and finally on her.

The process was long and arduous with Isobu straining his prison all the while. The ground trembled, the air burned thick with demonic chakra, and the small lake of water housing him was flung back and forth in tumultuous waves. Some of the ANBU aiding in the sealing abandoned their task to redirect the water. Isobu knew the ritual couldn't be interrupted now and he was going to try his damnedest to do just that.

After they painted on her belly and up her ribs, the slow brushes of ink came to a stop. The girl's entire torso was covered. It would shrink upon completion, he knew. The actual seal itself, the part that would be visible, was rectangular in shape but it had no hard edges, all smooth and flowing lines.

Isobu didn't recognize it and that alarmed him, spurring him to fight for all he was worth. The floor shook, the earth rising and falling in great chunks. The rest of the ANBU threw down their torches and used doton techniques to stabilize the surrounding area. The Mizukage stood in front of him impassively, watching the spectacle as if it was nothing.

The chains anchored by rings drilled into Isobu's shell finally snapped, continuous loud 'PING's filling the cavern as each one severed. The binding seals overloaded and released with a blinding flash. Walls shattered and the ceiling splintered and crumbled.

Freedom at hand, Isobu fought to untangle himself from the mess of broken chakra chains as his own chakra expanded. He grew larger with each passing second. The dome would be unable to contain him in less than a minute.

"Mizukage-sama, you must do it now or we fail!" one of the elderly men cried out, keeping his work in tact the best he could manage. The girl stirred beneath them, head lolling to the side.

The Mizukage smiled again, eyes glinting with madness. "Too slow, idiot demon. Give Konoha my regards."

_SEAL!_

**NO!**

Everything _warped_. Lines of black similar to a summoning jutsu exploded from all across Isobu's now massive body, flying through the air to connect to the sealing circle around his new vessel. The central seal on the young kunoichi's abdomen began to pulse rapidly, the trails of ink extending around her flaring to life as they shot upwards and inwards along with the bijū's chakra, speeding over her skin in swirls of black and bubbling red.

Isobu howled in outrage and infinite hatred as his physical body broke down and dissolved, being pulled into the seal no matter how hard he fought against it. A supernatural wind ravaged the dome as he roared. His previous chains had merely been a precursor to _this_.

Even on some other level of consciousness, the girl felt what was happening to her, the pain of becoming a jinchūriki immeasurable. Her eyes shot open, the whites a circular pattern of red and the irises neon yellow, pupils gone to slits as her body heaved violently. She appeared a horrific wraith with lines of seals and demonic chakra swirling around her like a raging tornado. The manacles holding her melted as she screamed in tandem with the beast, so loud and otherworldly that it gave both the retreating ANBU and Mizukage pause. Flecks of blood splattered her lips. She didn't stop screaming even when Isobu's fearsome roar could no longer be heard.

"_And unlike when you were inside me, you will be guided down the right path. I hope you learn what true strength is." _

What had his Father meant when he said that? Which was the right path? Where could he find it? How could he find it trapped inside the body of an uncaring, hateful human? What is true strength? How could he learn when the humans used him like this without rest or fail?

Isobu's hold on reality faltered as he became fully incorporeal. He slipped from the plane of the living, a metaphysical titan of chakra not meant to be trapped inside a human. Images of the stone prison flashed before him, then black squiggling lines pulsating with chakra like a beating heart, and then nothing at all as he fell deeper, deeper than any ocean trench on the planet could offer him.

"_Until that time…"_

* * *

**三**

* * *

I would like to say my experience as a jinchūriki made my predicament all the more surreal but I would, very sadly, be lying. If anything, it eventually hammered home the fact that _this_ was all too real.

_It hurts so much, why is this happening to me, oh my god, someone please help, someone save me—NO, STOP, IT'S TOO PAINFUL, HELPMEHELPME NONONONO—_

**Nobody can save you now, little girl. Now give in to me. **

Unimaginable pain coursed through my body, centered in my belly where it pounded over and over, sending waves of malevolent chakra and, you guessed it, more mind-searing pain. Ink spilled onto my legs, staining my clothing and the ground, coming from my stomach, where I guessed my seal was. I bent double forehead smeared into the dirt, pressing my hands to it, as though that would stop it from flowing out. Red froth poured forth with it, coating my body in its red shroud. The flesh there felt like it was twisting and contracting like some awful parody of birth.

In a moment of sharp lucidity, I realized it was going to be. I was going to give birth to the monster inside me, never knowing which one it was, and die with its release.

I screamed louder than I thought was humanly possible with force beyond measure and felt my throat tear all the way up, blood flying from my mouth to drench my lips and chin. My right eye was closed and I couldn't open it!

_Control it._

Distantly, through my sheer terror and panic, I could hear his dark, pleased laughter. He reminded me of a spiteful child, gleefully and deliberately tearing the wings from a butterfly, watching it struggle and despair until becoming bored with it and finally squishing it.

My first instinct was to _run_, just run as far the hell away as I could from this demonic mass of chakra. Gusts of unnatural hot air rocked the forest around me, the old tall trees close to snapping with the force of it. It came from me, the wind, every time I shrieked in pain and terror, releasing shockwaves of the hideous chakra that wasn't mine. The bubbling red oozed further along my body. I could feel it crawling up my neck but I was too distraught to fight it. Watching with near fathomless horror as a strip of flesh peeled from my forearm with a sickening noise, I knew I couldn't.

I couldn't run from this as much as I couldn't run from myself.

_Control it or die._

The strip of flesh hissed and crackled, then dissolved into the shroud of red surrounding my body. Blood dripped from the constantly forming wounds and defying all gravity, floated around in miniature orbs. I used to think that looked so cool when it happened to Naruto. Goddamnit kid, I am so sorry.

With another scream that levelled the trees around me and threw the river's water cascading into the forest, I rolled along the ground mindlessly clawing at myself in a futile attempt to rip the foul red from my body.

In my feverish thoughts, _something_ had to _work_. Something had to rid me of it!

Skin came away with it and I only screamed harder. Muscle didn't become visible when it should have, replaced with some terrible mixture of dense black and red chakra threaded together in an ever-moving chaotic pattern. I struggled to breathe, choking on blood, far beyond anything that could be called hyperventilating. In my panic, the phantom tail smashed and scored the terrain around me, shattering trees like they were delicate playthings. This monstrous _thing_ was an extension of myself!

**Aren't you tired of the pain? **His voice took on an almost kind tone, gentle and coaxing. This guy could win mood-swings of the year award, no contest.

It became harder to think. A slow-building throb in my back had me instinctively knowing that a second tail would be sprouting soon. I could feel his influence on me grow stronger. Soon I wouldn't be me.

**Let me take away your pain. It's easy, just let me out. **

I don't know which bijū is inside of me or if I'm like Naruto. At what point would I lose who I was? What was the limit on my tails? There would be no Yamato or Tenzō, whatever his name is supposed to be, jumping out of the trees to save me. I highly doubt there's some kind of Yondaime Hokage built into my seal to fix it when it weakens too much. I can't let this damn thing form!

A new wave of pain racked my body, sending me into spasms. Like an infected abscess, the chakra building in my back grew larger. It would burst and the second tail would be free. What could I do to stop it? What does someone like me know? I'm the person whose stupidity led to the circumstances of my first death!

He seemed to sense my self-doubt, that I was at the end of my proverbial rope. **It's over, little human. I'm winning.**

_You are a medic-nin with excellent chakra control. This is merely another exercise in control. Control it or die._

"Control it or die," I repeated in a ragged whisper as my vision fogged out.

:.:

"_You control it or your patient dies!" Kotori-sensei barked, eyeing the decidedly dead trio of fish in front of us with obvious disdain. "Are you three really considered up and coming prodigies in the medical field with that kind of chakra control?" _

_I tried to fight the rising heat in my cheeks. We were failing hard, weren't we? Beside me Shizune swallowed but had the good sense not to look away. To her right, Hiro wasn't as smart. It was an unspoken rule not to break eye contact with Kotori-sensei; she took it as a weakness. _

_We winced at the sound of him being smacked across the face with her paper fan. Initially, people laughed at the paper fan. Soon you came to fear it; that thing was usually loaded with enough f__ū__ton to send a man clear across Konoha…_

"_Repeat to me the Four Laws of Iry__ō_-Ninjutsu," Kotori-sensei ordered, walking back and forth in measured steps in front of us, looking supremely unimpressed. 

"_No medic-nin shall ever stop medical treatment until the lives of their team members have come to an end," I said immediately, back straightening. She had to see I was one-hundred percent serious! Becoming a fully-fledged medic-nin is the most important thing in the world to me!_

"_N-no medic ninja s-shall ever stand on the f-front lines," Hiro stammered, eyes darting back and forth in paranoia as he healed his injured face._

_Shizune's stance straightened too as she spoke her part, "No medic-nin shall ever die until they are the last of their squad." She said it so adamantly and it was evident in her expression how much she too wanted this. For being three years younger than me, she was incredibly impressive. I think if we weren't such great friends, we would probably be bitter rivals. _

"_Only those medic-nin who have mastered the S__ō__z__ō__ Saisei and Byakug__ō__ are permitted to discard the above-mentioned laws!" I exclaimed with a good deal of excitement, promptly blushing when I realized I had little fists clenched in front of me. Senju Tsunade was my idol and my dream was to be just like her, a person that could discard the first three rules! I never wanted to be the weak one, the targeted one because of my iry__ō_-ninjutsu. I wanted to be useful to my new team and sensei when I graduated, with the power to protect them and my precious people! And for that I would strive to learn the pinnacle of medical ninjutsu, maybe even from Tsunade-sama herself! 

_As if she could read my thoughts, Shizune grinned at me. I knew it was her dream too. Really, it was the dream of all little iryo-nin growing up to the awe-inspiring stories of the great Tsunade-sama. _

"_So we have some drive and commitment here after all!" Kotori-sensei commented dryly, smirking. "Kids, if you want to be like Tsunade-hime you're going to need far better control than what you displayed here."_

"_Yes!" we all saluted. _

"_Back to the Mystical Palm jutsu then. Where you're all going wrong is the amount of chakra you're sending into your subject. It needs to be equal not just to the type of injury or the subject's structure, but the reserves of the subject. You can have the most powerful Sh__ō__sen in the world that's capable of healing your patient in seconds, but all it will end up doing is killing them if what you send in doesn't match their reserves. _

_"You'll overload their coils and end up severely damaging them in the best case scenario and in the worst, destroying them, resulting in their death. Mystical Palm isn't a magical heal-all. Do you understand?" _

"_Yes!" we chorused, taking our places in front of new, half-dead fish. I began again with my Mystical Palm, altering the amount of chakra I used and how much I was saturating it with, keeping it at pinpoint control the best I could manage. The dome of green given off by my hands surrounding the fish made it look otherwise but I knew it would work _this_ time. Failure wasn't an option. It wavered occasionally as my control slipped every now and again and I had to rein it back in._

_Sweat beaded on my brow, a few drops falling down my face. Medical ninjutsu was highly intensive and I wouldn't have it any other way. The fish twitched as I continued, not giving up. I pulled my chakra tighter, molding it into a more precise form, making it smaller and stronger while channelling a continuous tiny amount into the now weakly flopping animal. I couldn't use a burst here; bursts weren't effective in life-support treatment. _

_The fish exploded with movement. _Yes! Yes!_ I smiled as I stepped back for Kotori-sensei to examine it. _

"_Not bad," she concluded, sounding surprised. Shizune's eyes quickly flitted to my fish then back to hers in a fraction of a second. Ever the little professional, her concentration didn't falter. _

_Unfortunately__, Hiro's did. "Wow, Rin-chan that's amazing! Do you have any—"_

_Smack! Splash! Oh not the fish-tank…_

_I cringed, Shizune huffed a small sigh. _

_With a vein throbbing in her forehead, Kotori-sensei said, "I guess those guys at the hospital saw something in _some_ of you." She levelled a glare at Hiro. "Keep that up Nohara and maybe you _will_ grow up to be like Tsunade-hime." _

_I blushed and fidgeted for a moment before asking for my next exercise. Of course, Kotori-sensei was just teasing…_

_But still…maybe, maybe if I achieved my dream, something as impressive as that, Kakashi would notice me…_

:.:

Oh hell no, this Rin girl – that I am now in case anyone missed it thus far – was in love with Naruto's perpetually late and awkward sensei? For the love of god, girlfriend! Sure he can be a real badass at times but I'm not seeing the attraction here, at all. Let us wave goodbye to that ship because it's sailing! Also 'Tsunade', her name is Tsunade, not Tsunana… Go me…

But I digress, by a lot; like I'm about to die and still making sarcastic comments 'a lot'.

"_Do you understand?"_ The words echoed in my ears.

"Yes," I whispered, blinking as my vision came back clearer. The world seemed to calm down around me. I began to mold chakra in my core and hoped my theory would work. _I_ couldn't do this, didn't understand how to do this, but Rin _did_, so _I_ would be _Rin_.

**What? **he asked, startled. The son of a bitch knew I had been about to give in. Oh no no no, I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction.

"I'm Rin and she understands," I croaked, forcing myself to my knees. The gale-force winds were dying down, the tail that had been flailing around wildly lying limp. The pain associated with the second tail forming lessened. This was just another exercise in chakra control and Rin was a master at those.

Now Rin/Jenn, you're saying, he's a bijū and you're a kid with hardly any chakra left, how is that going to work?

It was like playing with my soul. The sounds of the physical world dulled as I molded the two energies inside me. One was far stronger than the other (I would need to remedy that at some point), which made it more difficult to maintain the balance but I – no, Rin – made do. The tight, dense ball of energy swirling in my center grew stronger, hotter. It became harder to keep its shape. I could feel myself frown, a droplet of sweat falling from my temple, but I persevered.

**Y-you—you think MEDITATION can save you?! You foolish human!**

His annoying voice ruined my focus; the energy inside me fractured but didn't dissipate. I fought to keep it whole until it was complete. I had to build as much chakra inside me as I could. It was the same principle as the fish test but I _would_ use a burst at the end after suffusing my entire body in my own chakra to force his away. I would force it back into the seal!

"I'm not going to die! You are not coming out!" I snarled.

I heard him laughing again and got an incredible surge of cynicism through my mind.

**Such a pathetic sentiment,** he said condescendingly. **How can you hope to stop me?**

"L-like this, you arrogant prick!" I clapped my hands together and released the frankly surprising amount of perfectly balanced chakra from my core, sending it out in precise waves throughout my limbs—

_Pathway system. Coils. Tenketsu points. _

—I couldn't waste it all at once or my technique would fail. The red chakra enveloping me began to clash with currents of visible blue as I channelled it throughout my body. It was the same concept for the Mystical Palm but what I was applying wasn't exactly medical-ninjutsu though it was extremely similar.

It was his turn to panic.

**N-no, what are you doing? How are you d-doing that?!**

He wasn't in control anymore. I was, though I was panting and struggling to keep up the pace I set. Regardless, it appeared to be working. The red-black chakra disappeared, scorched skin and muscle taking its place. I tried hard not to think about that.

The boiling red slowly but surely receded as I sat there glowing odd shades of colours. The sensation of liquid dripping down my belly stopped, the odd pulsating with it. If anything it felt like I was actually pushing the demonic chakra back inside of it. Briefly I wondered if that was a good thing. Couldn't he use what I was giving back to him to try breaking free again? I didn't want to go through that insanity any time soon.

**You deserve it for trying to kill me, you stupid…s-stupid…**

My chakra was at a higher ratio to his now. My sight greyed a bit as I pushed myself farther. I had a sinking feeling I was going to kill myself if I kept this up but I could not under any circumstances let him win. Unbelievably enough, I mustered the strength to say, "H-huh, n-not…willing to…c-call muh-me…a bitch?" I could feel his hesitation.

**You—**

Do you know what you do to do with a kid who doesn't know when to stop talking? You shut him up.

With a final push, I let the burst shock my body. I fell face-first onto the ground, gasping for breath. The tail faded away with the last of the red shroud and with it, his voice, thank god.

I think I probably lay there for a few minutes, unable to move. Even though I'd survived, I felt like I'd betrayed myself. I willingly let myself become Rin. The thought that I'd done it to live was hardly comforting. Was I going to let Jenn disappear so easily?

You know what, I don't want to think about this. Fuck this shit, I'm out of here.

Forcing myself to my feet, stumbling back and forth and shaking, I made my way to the river. I swallowed a lump in my torn apart throat and tentatively placed a foot on it. To my relief I didn't fall in but it wasn't a smooth ride over – it was more like I was walking across jello as my chakra was now weak and unstable. I guess it was a little stupid to be surprised that I could water-walk without any issues considering I'm/Rin is a skilled medic-nin and able to suppress a bijū with an idea based on keeping a fish alive…

* * *

**三**

* * *

What lay beyond the break in the forest: more forest! _Greeeat._ I don't know how long I've been walking for anymore.

"Left foot," I said hollowly sounding like I was about to keel over and die, while placing my left foot ahead. "Right foot." I repeated the same with my right foot. I went on like this, knowing I couldn't stop. If I did, someone would find me. It took all of my strength to keep moving, of which there wasn't much left. My breathing sounded like a death rattle.

My bijū might get his wish after all. It's all I've ever been good at really, failing. I thought I did so great overcoming the demonic chakra and holding the beast at bay but here I am about to die and let him out anyway. Seems my best is never enough. It was like that in my old life too.

My old life…is that really how I'm thinking now?

Who am I? Jenn? Nohara Rin? Who am I now?

"Left foot."

"_Jenn, Claire, what on earth are you two doing?" Mom asks however many years ago, very obviously trying not to facepalm, but I can hear the smile in her voice. I'm surprised she's supported me this long, being so sick and all. _

"_Trying to water-walk and perform Water Release jutsu," Claire responds without a care in the world. She shuts her eyes tightly for a moment then tries to step out onto the pool. Of course she falls in. She mutters something about getting it right next time. _

"_I'm swimming," I say, resisting the urge to drown myself. _

"_Not interested in learning Water Release?" Mom quips and I mouth 'oh my lord' and bury my face in my hands. She leaves laughing. "Love you too!"_

My eyes could hardly focus. The trees were blurs of green and brown as I forced myself to go forward. I couldn't go back. There was no going back for me.

"Right foot."

"_Dad, my computer is _wrecked_," I tell him, almost awestruck at the sheer carnage the internet has inflicted upon it. _

"_Oh for shit's sake, Jenn, why are you always so negative? That kind of thing won't help you in life," he yells while coming up the stairs. He's a computer genius. I envy him for it. No matter how much I try to learn, I just can't seem to do what he does. He sits down at my desk and starts opening and scrolling through god-knows-what. "Holy living fuck, kid! What did you do to this thing?"_

_If there's one thing Dad can teach me, it's how to swear like a sailor. _

_I try to hide my grin at his hilarious language. "Probably from porn," I say nonchalantly. Naturally I'm joking and he knows that. I would never admit something like that to him for real. _

_He gives me a dead stare and points at his shirt. It reads "FML". I burst into fits of laughter and he gives me a shit-eating grin. He acts like a tough old bastard but he never means it. _

_He loves me even though I'm sick all the time. _

"Left foot," I repeated, voice cracking. I felt a tiny tear slide down my cheek.

"_Rin, you want to become a kunoichi just like me, right?" Kaa-san asks encouragingly, smoothing her hands over my tiny shoulders. The purple marks on her cheeks stretch as she smiles. She's trying to teach me proper calligraphy because my strokes aren't precise enough yet. The last explosive note we made together didn't work right – there was smoke everywhere! – and it had made Tou-san very angry. I still wasn't sure why. _

"_Yes!" I nod eagerly. Kaa-san is the best shinobi I've ever seen and I want to be just like her. Before she got hurt, they called her Storm-caller!_

"_We'll rain down lightning together, right?" Kaa-san asks rhetorically with a large mischievous grin, tucking a long strand of burgundy hair behind her ear. Kaa-san's hair is so pretty. Sometimes I wish mine looked like hers so the big rectangles on my face would match, just like hers. _

_I want to be an awesome kunoichi like Kaa-san! I think about it a lot. I don't really know if I want to be a medic-nin like Tou-san keeps suggesting but…if I learn iry____ō_-ninjutsu then I can keep my precious people safe, right?

"Right foot." That woman's not the mother I know but some part of me loved her anyway. My foot got caught on a root and I nearly fell, grappling for a tree or low branch for support. It was getting harder to keep going, but I couldn't go back anymore.

"_Rin! Where do you think you're going?" Tou-san barks from behind the counter. _

_I freeze and try not to cringe at being caught. The displeasure in his voice is apparent. I'm not sure I believe him when he says he's always been a baker. "To study," I reply evenly. _

"_You can study here," he says, frowning. "Don't even try to tell me you're going to the hospital; I know for a fact your sensei there has the day off. You're going to the training fields, aren't you? Rin, you know how I feel about that." _

"_Tou-san," I begin, frustrated, "I'm weak. My taijutsu and kunai and shuriken work aren't up to par. Everyone else can beat me so easily it's pathetic. How am I ever going to get better if you forbid me from training?"_

"_As long as I'm alive I won't see you get hurt," Tou-san says with knotted eyebrows._

_Not this again. I'm so sick of it!_

"_A weak medic is the worst kind! I'll die on the battlefield," I snap, whirling around to face him. "I can have better iry__ō_-ninjutsu than Tsunade-sama and still be the biggest liability! I don't want to be a burden to my team!"

"_Which is why it's better if you quit! I watched all of my brothers die and nearly lost your mother!" His tone changes and his voice becomes louder. _

_This sobers me up somewhat. "Tou-san, I understand, I really do, but I'm going to graduate this year and make genin. It's been my goal since I was a little girl. I don't know why you suggested I become a medic-nin if you never wanted me to become shinobi."_

_His face falls and he just looks sad. "I thought you could work in the hospital. I never thought you would try for field medic. It was the best compromise I could think of." _

"Left foot…" I whispered, staggering. You should have listened to him Rin. Look at where we are now. _Where am I going? I can't go back anymore._

"M-miss?"

My head snapped up from looking at my feet (so I wouldn't fall down; in retrospect a totally awful thing for a shinobi on the run to be doing), bracing myself with one hand against a tree-trunk. The other hovered around my weapon holster.

In front of me stood a chubby older man brandishing a kama. He seemed torn between being concerned for me and afraid of me. The kama trembled in his grip as he held it up defensively because I'm totally in top-shape to attack. I mean, can't you tell by looking at me? Ripped up clothes, completely dazed expression, covered in blood and dirt and more fucked up wounds than skin… I let my hand drop. This guy wasn't a threat in the slightest, not even in my condition. I'm not about to kill a farmer.

"Hi," I said, the word barely recognizable with how damaged my vocal chords were.

He was flabbergasted. He opened and closed his mouth, gaping like a fish. We just stood there, about ten feet apart, staring at each other for different reasons.

"So, uh," I tried clearing my throat or something to that effect. It didn't sound like any "ahem" I'd ever heard in my life. I wondered if I would ever sound like the Rin from my memories again or if I'd left the injury too long untreated. It seemed to horrify the man. "Can I go?"

His jaw dropped and he became even more confused by me. "Can you go?" he echoed, shocked. Were the shinobi from this area assholes or something? Why was my being polite surprising?

"Miss, do you need help?"

"Oh," I said, weakly gesturing at my battered, blood-covered form. Then I said the most stupid and embarrassing thing ever. I swear to Christ saying it seemed like a normal idea at the time. "This? Don't worry; I'm just…on my…period…" I trailed off, swaying, as my eyes started to roll up into the back of my head.

I've never blacked out before. Is this what it's like to black ou—

* * *

**三**

* * *

When Juri had said she heard someone stalking about out in the woods just behind his farm, Kenta had been skeptical. Nobody came this far out anymore, not even any shinobi – Konoha-nin or otherwise, unless he paid them. There hadn't been a raid since the end of the Third Shinobi World War.

Imagine his surprise when he found out that there was indeed someone out back in the woods, a young girl no less. Her chest heaved with rattling breaths that seemed hard to take and she looked like she'd just walked out of hell itself, covered in injuries the likes of which he'd never seen before. Nervously he wondered if there had been some kind of battle nearby. He hadn't heard anything nor any of his neighbours and Juri was always quick to inform him of those kinds of going-on's.

She didn't seem to notice him, taking careful, dragging steps forward. She could hardly lift her feet. Still something in Kenta's gut told him to be on guard. No one came out of a battle looking like that not having done any of the fighting. She didn't have a hitai-ate declaring her allegiance but he noted her pouches and holster. This was no ordinary teenaged girl.

Damn, but she looked like she really needed help. Should he help her or run back the way he'd come fast as his legs could carry him? What good ever came from shinobi these days?

She kept coming forward, staring solidly at the ground, stringy blood-matted hair that might've once been pretty framing her face like a grotesque curtain. Kenta wanted to turn tail and run, but it was her eyes that stopped him. In them he saw the horrors that the war had wrought. He saw helplessness and her acceptance of death. This girl was too young to know such things. It also helped that Kenta heavily believed in karma.

Heaving a mental sigh, he stepped in front of her, holding his kama up like it might protect him should she choose to attack. He swallowed and said, "M-miss?"

Her head shot up faster than Kenta thought possible, eyes wide in alarm. Her hand darted to one of the pouches but paused. She reached out to lean against a tree. She studied him for a moment with those bulging, unblinking eyes filled with something that made him entirely uncomfortable.

"Hi," she said quietly, dropping her hand away from her presumed-weapons. Her voice sounded like she'd gargled glass and ashes.

Gods, what _had_ happened to this girl? He took in her appearance in growing horror.

"So, uh," she said when he couldn't find words and made some hideously painful noise with her throat. She winced a little when she did it. It seemed to surprise her as well. "Can I go?" she asked in a small, brittle voice.

"Can you go?" Kenta repeated, stunned. Where could she possibly go looking like she was on death's door? Maybe she wasn't a shinobi; shinobi didn't ask for anything, they just took it – or so was Kenta's experience. "Miss, do you need help?" he asked her in disbelief, putting emphasis on 'help'.

"Oh, this?" she waved her arm limply. "I'm just…" she mumbled nearly unintelligibly, swaying, "I'm just on…my period…" The she fainted dead away.

Kenta stared wide-eyed at her prone body as the dust settled around it.

"She's on her period," the farmer said out loud to himself blankly. Now Kenta was a man and didn't know much about a woman's monthlies, but he'd had a wife for a good twenty years and knew it didn't encompass being covered head to toe in blood.

Against his will, he gave a dry laugh. At least she had a sense of humor.

Kenta approached the girl and checked her pulse, glad to feel it steady under his fingertips. He sheathed his kama and picked the girl up.

Juri was going to lose it when she saw _this_.

* * *

**三**

* * *

Spiral Zetsu rose from the ground, stopping at chest-level when he saw the scenery.

"Oh my," he said aloud, head sweeping from left to right. The trees were either bent backwards or destroyed entirely. The river had large gouges in it, like some sort of massive creature had buried its claws into the sides. The rest of the terrain fared no better, ultimately in ruins. Nothing had been spared the destruction here.

The residual chakra made his insides squirm. It was terrible. It was almost familiar. Just what'd happened here?

What made marks like these, he asked himself, fully materializing from the ground. No animal he knew of could create patterns like these. Using his roots to send the information back through his clone brothers, he reached out for Rin's chakra. She'd been here at one point then presumably an encounter of either creature or human had forced her to leave. It was worrisome that he couldn't feel her chakra anymore.

Had Rin survived Kakashi's Chidori only to die here? That would be extremely unfortunate for all of them. If he went past this point, he would be unable to communicate with the clones. Their net stretched only so far from the Mountain's Graveyard.

_Bijū chakra?_ one of the closer Zetsus sent back, clearly surprised.

_What, really?_

_That's all I can think of…it feels much the way Madara described it._

"Curiouser and curiouser," Spiral Zetsu mused. Now he _had_ go past the perimeter. He _needed_ to know what had happened to Rin. If there was actually a bijū roaming around, he would have felt it without a doubt. Which meant one thing: there was a jinchūriki somewhere nearby.

Was _Rin_ herself the jinchūriki? This was way better than the crappy television they leeched off of Takigakure!

* * *

**A/N: **Inspector Zetsu! Why does he know that phrase? Shh, don't kill me. In ways lots of things happened in this chapter and in ways not so much. Rin did make it out of the forest though! I suppose I'm writing it this way as most OC-inserted-into-so-and-so are usually totally chill with what happens to them. I've not read a single one where the OC has a problem with becoming someone else.

I used the Sage of Six Paths speech to the bijū mostly from an anime translation but I did go around to various sources to make sure what I was having him say was correct.

Hopefully the sealing ritual and the way Rin got out of being overtaken by Isobu weren't totally out there and somewhat believable. We don't know too much about different seals for jinchūriki or about medical ninjutsu so I'm making up some as I go. I know Isobu's personality is a little all over the place right now but we'll be seeing him as he really is soon.

There's a little of my take on Canon!Rin, her hopes and dreams, some of her training and friends. I will go more into Shizune and Rin. Does anyone want to see more of Hiro? Kotori was the field-medic they began training under after the medic-nin in Konoha's hospital in preparation for their graduation to genin teams.

Why do I go between Japanese and English translations? The same reason I do for Canadian/American spelling. I just don't know (also Word sucks).

All feedback is appreciated. What am I doing right? What am I doing wrong? What would you like to see more of? As always, reviews are love (and I certainly don't mind favs or follows)!


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